| How to Build a Better Credit Rating
If you've ever applied for a credit card, a personal loan, or insurance, there's a file about you. This file is known as your credit report. It is chock full of information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you've been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses with a legitimate need for it. They use the information to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or a lease. Having a good credit report means it will be easier for you to get loans and lower interest rates. Lower interest rates usually translate into smaller monthly payments. Nevertheless, newspapers, radio, TV, and the Internet are filled with ads for companies and services that promise to erase accurate negative information in your credit report in exchange for a fee.
FTC Says It Can't Crack Down On Lenders' Unsolicited Calls
When you apply for a mortgage and get a barrage of irritating and confusing phone calls from competing lenders before noon the next day, can you turn to the government for help?
The Federal Trade Commission issued its long-awaited answer to that question in mid-March, and it's already attracting criticism. The agency, which has regulatory oversight powers concerning consumer credit, says it lacks the legal authority to crack down on unwanted "trigger list" phone solicitations to consumers who have applied for mortgages within the preceding 12 to 24 hours.
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Basement problems undisclosed, undetected
Q: My daughter and her family purchased a 1970s ranch-style home after the professional inspector she hired gave it and the finished basement a clean bill of health. The seller even signed a ``no water problems'' statement in the closing papers. Within days, her sister noticed her fingers could go through the drywall in the cellar. The brand-new bathroom shower was not connected to the septic system, and flooded the floor. Mold and water remediation followed, costing more than $12,000. The lawyer who handled the closing settlement won't help. What recourse does she have against the seller and inspector? -- Sara C. A: Obviously, your daughter bought the house from a dishonest seller who signed a fraudulent defect-disclosure statement. If the bathroom shower was new, she should have inquired as to whether a building permit had been obtained and whether the local building inspector approved the work.
How To Get Your First Mortgage
Editor's Note: First time home buyers can be confused by the process. There is the loan process, pre-qualification, looking for a home, documents for title, loans, insurance taxes etc. Here is an article on the subject: When it comes to lifetime markers getting a first mortgage is a major event. With a mortgage you''re magically transformed from occupant to owner and from tenant to titleholder. Applying for a mortgage used to be seen as a battle of sorts, a competition where the only winners were those who sold headache remedies and paper by the truckload. But now finding the right mortgage is faster and easier than ever -- but only if you know how to make the system work for you. If you compare loan applications today with the ordeals of even ten years ago you can see a marked difference.
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